Despite having appeared for Nigeria at youth level, Okorie followed his father's advice and left to study architecture at university in the Indian city of Visakhapatnam. Nevertheless, he represented the city in the Rovers Cup, one of India's oldest football tournaments, and was quickly signed by Kolkatta side Mohammedan SC for the 1985/86 season. Beginning to establish a reputation for scoring prowess, he joined East Bengal 2 years later and, having been the Kolkatta league's top scorer in 3 out of the 4 seasons at the club, Mohun Bagan changed their century old tradition of not recruiting foreigners and made Okorie the first player to break the 500,000 rupee barrier.

After leading the league's top scorer chart for a further two seasons, Okorie left Kolkatta and India to try his luck in the UK. Having failed to impress Sunderland in a trial, he arrived at London Road on non-contract terms following a recommendation from the club's resident Nigerian, Dominic Iorfa. He played, and scored in, Posh's 3-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion in the Anglo-Italian Cup in September 1993, but quickly left for a trial at Grimsby Town, who he had watched win 2-1 at London Road 2 weeks previously. After only a handful of appearances as a substitute, Okorie broke his leg and joined Gillingham in March 1994, featuring regularly until losing his place to emerging youngster Duane Darby 12 months later. Upon his release he tried his luck first in Norway with Sogndal IL, then in Denmark with Ikast FS and Viborg FF.

Unable to repeat his Indian successes in Europe, he returned to Kolkatta and immediately helped his former side Mohun Bagan to their first league title and was again the league's top scorer twice in a row. Disaster struck at the end of August 1999, however, when Okorie was accused of assaulting a referee. Following a 2-year ban and a heavy fine, he failed to make a return to playing, instead concentrating on coaching qualifications and establishing his own sports kit company based in the UK. In June 2006 he became manager of second tier side Bengal Mumbai, designing the team's kit himself, and became the club's CEO 2 months later. Despite laying out grand visions for the club, he returned to Kolkatta in February 2007 to re-join Mohun Bagan, as club's third manager of the season. He did not last long, however, resigning on 7th April, citing dissatisfaction with performances by the club's senior players, including former Bury striker Baichung Bhutia.